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Researching and Writing Literature Reviews

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Critical analysis of materials

  • Preliminary analysis:

    • Who is/are the author/s? What are their qualifications (degrees awarded, positions at universities, previous research and publications) to write on the topic at hand?

    • What is the date of publication of the research? How up-to-date is the study? Has it been superseded?

    • Who is the publisher? Is the publisher a respected entity? Is it a university press or a private company? If a university press, what is the reputation of the institution? If private, what is the reputation of the company? (Your librarian can help you make this determination.) If the resource in question is a journal article, is the publishing journal a respected journal in the field?


  • Objectivity:

    • LANGUAGE: If the resource in question is a written document, is it clearly written? What sort of language does the article use? Is it inflammatory or derogatory? Does it reflect a particular bias or slant?

    • SURVEYING: Was the research based on surveys? If so, are the survey questionnaires available? How are the questions written -- that is, are they designed to elicit a particular response? How big was the surveyed population?

    • METHODOLOGY: How well was the research designed? Does the researcher/author of the study include a thorough description of his/her methodology? What measuring instruments were used, and are they accurate or reliable?

    • RESEARCH GOALS: Does the author clearly state his/her research goals? Is the author/s' viewpoint or thesis obvious, and if so, does it reflect commonly accepted knowledge and practice in the discipline, or is it a radical departure from the norm?




      GENERAL RULE: the more radical a departure from the norm, the more skeptical you should be about the author/s' conclusions.


  • Coverage:
    • Original research, or mostly secondary sources?

    • How well is the work researched? Is there an extensive bibliography? Of what sort of works does the bibliography consist?

    • How extensive was the study/surveying? How large was the sample? How long did the author take to complete the study?


  • Authority

    • If the resource in question is a journal article, have other researchers cited this work in their own research? Is the article generally regarded as authorative and accurate?

    • What is/are the author/s' reputation/s in the field? How often is his/her/their work cited by other researchers? Is their work favorably regarded by other researchers?

    Many of these questions can be answered through careful citation review, using databases like Journal Citation Reports and Social Sciences Citation Index. For more on these databases, please see the Tools section of this guide.